Cybertron is a world torn apart by conflict. With Soundwave on their side and the entire planet's communications grid under their control, the Decepticons have overrun the Autobots' positions all over the southern hemisphere. As their armies continue to march north, the Autobots' capital city of Iacon is the last fortress standing in the face of their assault. Autobot defenders line up, preparing for the battle that is sure to come.

But away from the war on the ground is a battle that's just as important. The Decepticon forces in orbit are moving as well, taking orbital habitats and destroying Autobot defenders. They are doing this for one reason and one reason only: to prevent the Autobots' space fleet from moving against Soundwave and the satellite complex that gives him power over the system's communications. But a small group of Autobots has slipped through the net and arrived at the complex intent on stopping the villain before he can cause any more harm.

Meanwhile, the ancient Autobot battleship named Omega Supreme has made his slow way back to the world that birthed him, but his journey has not been an easy one...

Warcry

2013-09-15, 08:42 PM

Cybertron orbit

Ignorant of what had been going on, a battered, beaten, severely damaged Omega Supreme coasted into orbit with barely any momentum on his side. His fuel depleted and his hull torn open in dozens of places, he clearly showed the scars of several encounters with Decepticons during the course of his journey...but the journey was now, finally, complete.

"Likewise. I can find and mark the things, but I'm not so great with actually handling them. Probably why the Vector gave me a holo-emmiter instead of tool functionality," Hound answered to Red Alert, before turning to look at Raiku, though the mechanic seemed pretty distracted. "Though luckily we got some guys for the tech support side of it," He spoke, also indicating Volks in the comment.

However Raiku failed to respond. Hound noted the hand on the side of his head, and realized he might have been having some of the trouble he'd indicated to Prowl previously. Hound started to move in a direction towards the high window and derelict lifter, and noticed that Raiku did turn to see what he was doing. He just must not have felt like talking at the moment.

"I'm not noticing anything over there," Hound spoke to Red Alert, as thought to confirm with him. "Soundwave probably figures we can't get up there, and that machine looked wrecked. Any good with lifters?" He asked the mechanic.

Raiku looked over at it briefly, pausing for a moment, but then started to head over that way, since neither Hound nor Red Alert had indicated a waiting trap. He was hesitant at first when he approached it, first looking around the outside for signs of tampering, then eventually picking up a discarded metal rod and using it to open the engine hatch. When nothing exploded or shot at him, Raiku went in closer to the machine, starting to investigate the damage to the workings.

While the mechanic was busy checking out the machine, Hound turned his attention to Roadbuster. "If he can get that working, think you can blow that window open?" Hound asked. It was probably reinforced, in case of pressure-loss in the hangar, but he really had no doubt Roadbuster had something that would get through it, though hopefully without blowing up the rest of the hangar.

Springer85

2013-09-16, 07:45 PM

Soundwave Facility

Volks immediately stepped back when Red Alert told him so and instinctively grabbed his gun, ready to fire at anything that moves. "Probably best if you stay here," Volks said to Barrel Roll. "Don't want to end up accidentally shoot you and prove my theory right."

Volks looked up when Hound was talking about tech-support. "Hey. Don't look at me! I'm only a hacker!" he said holding his hands closely in front of him. "There's no.way I'm going out there and diffuse bombs. It's not what I do."

Aero Blade

2013-09-17, 07:54 PM

Soundwave Facility

"How about electronic locks?" Raiku would call out to Volks from the derelict lifter.

"Most of it is shot, looks like it got intentionally torn up, but I think I can get the lifting arm working on this thing. That won't do us any good if it won't operate, though," Raiku explained. He straightened up, indicating the controls. "There's an electronic lockout on the thing. I could probably hotwire it, but my work capacity's pretty limited right now. If I have to do that and fix it, that's gonna be a lot more time for Soundwave to figure out something else to ruin our day with."

Warcry

2013-09-19, 02:03 AM

Soundwave Facility

"On the other hand," Red Alert said, politely disagreeing with Hound's teleological argument, "if you'd been built with electronics tools you probably would have gotten trained in how to use them. We have to make the best of what we've got, after all."

The cop glanced over to where Raiku was working, then shrugged.

"Besides, that's why I asked Prowl for a team instead of just charging up here to try and kill Soundwave myself. Everyone has their limits. The best way around them is to have trustworthy people around you with different skills." He glanced at their hacker. "And Volks as well I suppose."

Heinrad

2013-09-21, 02:50 PM

Soundwave Facility:

Roadbuster looked up, mentally factoring things as he looked at the window. "Blowing out the window is easy. Do we have any way to get up there?"

Springer85

2013-09-22, 05:59 PM

Soundwave Facility

"What do you mean 'and Volks'??" the minibot said out loud to Red Alert. "Are you still going to give me this kind of attitude after I heroically volunteered for this mission? By Primus, you act like I stole your wallet," he said to the police officer as he crossed his arms, lifted his chin and turned his head a little sideways. "Which is not a bad idea now that I mention it," he added as he tapped his chin with his index digit.

"Electronic locks are easy to bypass," Volks then replied when Raiku inquired if he knew how to deal with them, but then looked up at Red Alert and scratched the back of his head. "Erm, or so I have heard," he quickly added with a chuckle.

Hound sighed audibly and rolled his optics at Volks' and Red Alert's interactions. He decided to focus on Volks for the moment. "Well? What are you waiting for, get in there! It isn't about to get any easier, consider this your warm up."

Hound shook his head briefly. Oiy, reform program draftees... He turned to Roadbuster. "So long as they can get the lifter running, we should have it covered about getting in there." He also turned towards Barrel Roll. "Probably best if you get the shuttle ready for extraction like Raiku said. We don't know when we'll be needing to get out of here, but I'm betting it won't be pleasant. Sooner you're in position the better."

Raiku himself for the moment was too busy with the broken down machine to answer, trying to figure out how to get his work done with just one and a half arms to speak of. He considered removing the brace, but he had no idea if he was finished healing up yet, and might just agitate things further. It was frustrating, but he had to just stick it out.

Warcry

2013-09-24, 03:47 AM

Soundwave Facility

Red Alert looked at Volks and said, "I'm fairly certain you just admitted to petty theft. I'll be sure to arrest you if you survive the mission." He narrowed his optics and added, "And for the record, I store my wallet internally. So good luck with that. Either way, you're not doing much to convince me I should include you in the 'trustworthy' category just yet."

Everyone else in the group could probably tell pretty easily that he was deliberately winding the other Autobot up, though. After all, if Volks was busy being mad at him he would be too busy to worry about getting killed.

Springer85

2013-09-24, 04:04 PM

Soundwave Facility

"Oooh I store my wallet internally. You can't get it. I'm such a badass," Volks mumbled as he made his way over to Raiku. "Probably stored his wallet in his tailpipe. No wonder he's cranky all the time."

Volks entered the derelict lifter and made his way to the electronic lock. "And for the record: I only admitted to knowing how to bypass an electronic lock," he called out from the engine hatch. "Some cop you are," he added mockingly.

Volks started to concentrate and not let Red Alert or Hound distract him from doing what he's good at. Hacking his way into things. He flipped up the tip of his index digit to reveal a sort of key-like part that he inserted into the keyhole next to the electronic lock. "It's a good thing that systems like these always come with a manual override," he said though to no one in particular. "All I have to do now is upload my personally designed override program and..." Volks waited a moment for the program to finish running." There! All done. Who's the badass now, huh?"

"Slowly, but almost done," the mechanic responded. "Lifter won't reach the full height, but a few crates on the arm will fix that. Just need to get our entrance made first."

Hound nodded, then turned to look at Roadbuster. "All up to you now."

Warcry

2013-10-04, 01:48 AM

Soundwave Facility

Red Alert tensed as Volks and Raiku worked on the load-lifter, half-expecting them to trip some unseen trap that he'd missed in his evaluation of the room. But instead, thankfully, nothing happened and their work went ahead as planned.

He pretended not to hear Volks' scandalous insults and overt taunts, not for lack of a reply but because it was only fun to wind up the hacker when their lives weren't depending on his ability to get the job done.
____________________________________

Kelex Space Station

Omega Supreme slowly floated into a docking birth, his manoeuvring thrusters firing at the last moment to arrest his momentum and bring him to a stop inside the even-more-massive space station's largest drydock. Support tethers, fuel lines, electrical wires and airlock-bridges shot out from the station then, grabbing the massive Autobot and holding him in place.

Although the facility's engineers had no clue how to even begin working on a Supreme-class Sentinel and wisely decided to leave it to the professionals when they arrived, they did begin pumping energon back into the large robot's internal tanks at the same time as they recharged his power cells.

Heinrad

2013-10-15, 01:49 AM

Soundwave facility:

Roadbuster pulled one of the microwavers out, looking at the vaguely pistol-shaped, mainly boxy device. He looked at the window, then pulled his linear blaster cannon. "Hey, Red, how much of a better chance will you guys have if I start trying to give Soundwave a headache?"

Warcry

2013-10-16, 05:53 PM

Soundwave Facility

Red Alert reluctantly looked away from the work that Volks and Raiku were doing to turn his attention to Roadbuster. The other Autobot looked ready to blow out the window, but also seemed to have something else on his mind.

"That would depend," Red replied to Roadbuster with a statement equally as vague as the one the other Autobot had just made, "on just how likely it is that your plan is going to get you killed. Anything that can distract him is a good thing, but if we lose our only combat specialist things will turn out very badly for us. What do you have in mind?"

Springer85

2013-10-22, 08:35 PM

Shuttle: Approaching Omega Supreme

Luckily for Wheeljack and Highbrow, their shuttle managed to remain unseen thanks to the efforts from the Autobot aerial assault teams that covered their trip towards the Omega Sentinel that they're supposed to repair. So far anyway.

"Guess we're almost there," Wheeljack said to Highbrow. "Guess I'll let somebody know we're almost there," he said as he attempted to contact the Kelex Space Station. "This is Wheeljack calling the Kelex Space Station. We've been sent by Sentinel Prime to assist with the repairs on an Omega Sentinel. Requesting permission to dock."

Warcry

2013-10-24, 06:06 PM

(OOC: Let's just assume that Roadbuster has broken the glass so we can move forward, okay? :) )

"This is Kelex Station control," he said to the other Autobot. "We have no record of your arrival, Wheeljack. We've lost contact with Iacon ground control. Please transmit your authorization codes so we know you're not Decepticon infiltrators. After you provide that, head towards the docking bay on our north pole."

The small Autobot put the channel on mute, then opened a channel to the security hub.

"Strongarm, we've got a shuttle incoming. Claim they're here under Sentinel Prime's orders. Could you join me down at the shuttle dock so that we can meet them?"

"Will do. We expecting trouble?"

"There's a war going on and orbital habitats are blowing up left and right," Skyblast told him. "Of course we're expecting trouble."

"Authorization codes?" Wheeljack scratched the back of his head. "Erm, I wasn't given any authorization codes. I think." Wheeljack turned around to Highbrow. "Do you know anything about any codes that we should have?"

Highbrow shook his head.

"Kelex Station control, we don't have any authorization codes. We were told to get in this shuttle and fly up to your station to start repairs on an Omega Sentinel. We have no bad intentions and there's only two of us on board the shuttle. Can't your scanners pick that up? If not, your systems are in need of a serious upgrade," Wheeljack added.

Aero Blade

2013-10-30, 03:02 PM

((ooc: assuming Volks is out of the way, since Springer hasn't responded with him yet :p))

Soundwave Facility

Raiku stepped back to avoid the falling glass and debris from the window, then immediately went back to the repaired lifter to make sure it hadn't taken any damage. Satisfied that it was still in working order, Raiku moved into cockpit, getting to work on the controls.

The lifter made a horribly grinding noise, the sound of the motor and other parts straining to work after so long in disrepair, but finally it began to move. Slowly the machine moved forward at a crawl, Raiku guiding it towards the left over crates. With another disconcerting mechanical wail, the crates slowly began to lift off the floor, inching steadily into place.

Hound would remain tense and on-guard in the area, as though expecting something to jump out at them or try to shoot them for their efforts.

Warcry

2013-10-31, 04:33 AM

Soundwave Facility

Red Alert winced as the glass broke, then winced again as Raiku got the old, creaky load-lifter running -- both noises hurt his sensitive ears and put him on edge.

"Well, I guess sneaking was out of the question anyway," he whispered just loud enough that he could hear himself, but quietly that the others probably wouldn't.

He followed Hound's lead though, watching carefully to ensure that nothing would leap out of the newly-broken window at them. It seemed, though, that nothing was coming through.
____________________________________

Kelex Space Station

Skyblast sighed.

This never would have happened under Zeta Prime...

"Look, I'll be straight with you. That makes things more complicated. We can't talk to Iacon to verify your mission, so you're going to have to submit to a complete in-person scan of yourselves and anything you want to take off of your shuttle before we can let you board. We'll also have to cross-check your spark signatures with our databases to make sure that you're actually Autobots and not, say, Triple-M terrorists or known Decepticons. Hopefully it'll only take a minute or two. We'll also have to send a sweeper team onto the shuttle to check for contraband, so if either of your are carrying Syk or unmarked Engex you should probably flush it out the airlock before you dock."

He arrived at the designated landing bay to find that Strongarm and his guards were already there. Muting the channel again, he looked at the security officer and said, "No codes and no official orders. They get the full workup."

Strongarm cocked his head to one side. "Should we call the boss?"

"Not unless we find anything suspicious," Skyblast told him with a shrug.

Heinrad

2013-11-01, 01:15 AM

Soundwave facility:

Roadbuster holstered the linear blaster cannon and pulled his grenade launcher. "I'm thinking I split off from the main group and start frying as much of the electronics in this station as I can. That should draw his attention away from the rest of you."

Warcry

2013-11-08, 03:31 AM

Soundwave Facility

"It couldn't hurt," Red Alert told Roadbuster with a shrug. "Well, it could hurt you I suppose. But if we divide Soundwave's attention it might make it easier for us to meet our objectives."

He glanced over at Raiku and the rest. "What do you think?"

Springer85

2013-11-08, 07:13 PM

Shuttle: Boarding the Kelex Space Station

"Wheeljack scratched the back of his head and laughed a bit nervously. "Erm, I might make matters worse now, but I'm officially not even an Autobot and I'm also from Kaon," he said to the other end of his conversation. "Probably won't do me any good, but I'd rather be honest about it. I can also assure you that we brought nothing but out tools to help with the repairs, but you're free to check for anything. Not like we would have a choice in the matter anyway. "

Wheeljack docked the shuttle. "So what do I do now? Sit still with our arms raised in the air," he said as he looked at Highbrow.

___________________

Soundwave Facility

Volks watched as the others debated about splitting up or not. "I'm bored. When do we get to shoot stuff?" he said to no one in particular, though secretly hoped for a reaction from somebody.

Warcry

2013-11-08, 07:30 PM

Soundwave Facility

Red Alert couldn't help but glare at Volks, even though he knew that the smaller Autobot was trying to get a rise out of people. "Hush, you," he told the hacker.
____________________________________

Kelex Space Station

Skyblast winced. "I appreciate your honesty," he told Wheeljack, "but I hope for your sake you don't have too many other secrets you need to bring up. Our security chief looks like he's one step away from going full cavity search on you guys, and that's no fun for anybody."

As the shuttle came to a stop and the hatch opened up, Skyblast took a step back and allowed Signal Flare to peer inside with his scanners. When the sensor-bot gave them a thumbs-up to indicate it was safe to board, Skyblast said to Wheeljack. "We're coming aboard. Hopefully we'll be able to make this quick."

At Strongarm's insistence, the communications officer let the other Omnicons board first. While Signal Flare and Offshoot headed to the back of the shuttle, scanning every surface with their sensor-dish arms, Skyblast followed Strongarm up to the cockpit.

"A pleasure to meet you in person," he said to the two Autobots that they found. "Which one of you is Wheeljack?"

Aero Blade

2013-11-09, 12:48 AM

Soundwave Facility

Raiku looked uncomfortable as Red Alert prompted him for input. Yes, he'd volunteered for the leader role to distract Soundwave, but now he wasn't sure he could handle it.

He wanted to tell Roadbuster to stay with them, for no other reason than that it was more likely (he hoped) to get everyone home if they stayed together. But then that might also make it easier for Soundwave to take them all out at once... His head still had a dull ache from the input overload earlier from his vision, it made the hard decision even worse.

This guy is trained military, he knows what he's doing, Raiku told himself. He wouldn't make the offer if he didn't think he could handle it.

"Don't get too far in over your head," Raiku finally answered, though he sounded worried saying it. "We need everyone to come back in one piece."

Warcry

2013-11-27, 04:22 PM

(OOC: We need to move on, so I'm going to assume that everything is in place and we're ready to go to the next room.)

Soundwave Facility

Red Alert watched as their makeshift crate-ladder clunked into place, winced and hoped fervently that none of them were heavier than they looked.

That's pretty precarious even for a normal 'Bot like me...

Glancing at Raiku he said, "Should I go first? Or should we send Hound? He can report back the lay of the land to us better than I can using his holograms."

Aero Blade

2013-12-01, 12:44 AM

Soundwave Facility

"Well cannon fodder's in the job description, though in not so many words," Hound would say, moving ahead without waiting for Raiku to answer Red Alert. He was worried that Raiku would want to take the job himself, and decided not to give him the opportunity.

Raiku started to open his mouth to protest, but Hound was already starting to scale the crate pile, and it wasn't as if the mechanic was capable of stopping him. Raiku shut his mouth briefly before turning to look over at Red Alert. "You should go along with him. Two sets of optics will be better at spotting than one."

Warcry

2013-12-02, 01:00 AM

Soundwave Facility

After nodding his agreement to Raiku Red Alert followed along behind Hound. He took care to wait until the other Autobot had made his way up the rickety box stairway before placing his own weight on it, though, not wanting to overload the makeshift pathway and send it crumbling. Instead, he stepped on the load-lifter in the hopes of counterbalancing his moving partner.

Because the police officer was waiting, Hound would arrive in the room before Red. What he'd see when he got there was...not very much. The room was dark, lit only by what scant illumination spilled over from the hangar it overlooked. It was long from side to side, but shallow. A few control terminals and computer stations -- their displays as black as the rest of the room -- were lined up along the walls. If Hound wasn't careful he might step on one of them as he passed through the broken window.

Springer85

2013-12-09, 08:02 PM

Kelex Space Station

"Well, I can't make you any promises," Wheeljack joked a little, but understood the seriousness of the situation. "All I can tell you is that Highbrow and I aren't here with bad intentions. We were not 'so politely asked' by Sentinel Prime to try and fix an Omega Sentinel. Seeing as I'm a capable engineer and never even saw an actual Omega Sentinel I just couldn't pass on the opportunity."

As Strongarm, Signal Flare and Offshoot entered the shuttle, Wheeljack raised his hand when asked to identify himself. "That would be me. How can I help?"

__________________________________

Soundwave Facility

"So," Volks said out loud. "Are we there yet? I'm aching to shoot somebody with my laser," he added as he pulled out his photon pistol.

Aero Blade

2013-12-10, 06:52 AM

Soundwave Facility

"Patience," Raiku would say to Volks, trying not to sound too annoyed as he looked briefly towards Volks. "If we wind up getting into shooting, this mission's probably well on it's way downhill fast. The longer it stays calm, the better." He then turned back to watch Hound and Red Alert's progress.

Hound had scaled their makeshift ladder with little problem, finding a food hold in between some of the shattered glass of the destroyed observation window, but then there he paused. He was now standing at the precipice of unknown territory, and the darkness was not inviting...

The sound of something metallic skittering through the room would draw Hound's attention, his head jerking fast in that direction, and the scout resisting the urge to turn on his light - that'd just draw attention to himself, or whatever it was would be long gone before he could get the light on it - better instead was something more subtle, which Hound did by starting to scan the room.

Within moments the information had compiled, and Hound was not surprised to find he didn't detect whatever it was (gone, or too well hidden for his brief scan to route out). He cross-referenced the fresh scan against the information he'd recorded earlier from Prowl's maps, and decided nothing immediately in front of him seemed to have been altered. He was still unsure of the computers just below the window (not a tech, he wouldn't know if they'd been hacked or had changes to the interior) and opted to simply hop over the devices without touching them.

Hound landed with a brief thud on the floor in a crouched position, immediately glancing around for potential trouble. After a moment he'd straighten up to stand, looking briefly back over his shoulder to check for Red Alert, then continued to survey the area.

Warcry

2013-12-13, 02:55 PM

Soundwave Facility

Red Alert heard the same sound that Hound did, and it put him on edge. He came into the room right behind the other Autobot, but couldn't see or smell anything other than the two of them. Going through the window, he landed right beside the scout with a scowl on his face.

"Any idea what that was?" he asked, as he moved out to check the exit for traps.
____________________________________

Kelex Space Station

The scanning crew came back and their leader shrugged at Skyblast, clearly unable to find anything.

"Well, Wheeljack, it doesn't look like you've smuggled anything dangerous aboard. Either you're the worst terrorists ever or your story checks out." He smiled, then extended his hand to the other Autobot. "Welcome aboard. "I'll take you over to Omega Supreme's dock. Do the two of you need to grab any gear first?"

Aero Blade

2013-12-17, 07:46 PM

Soundwave Facility

"Not really," Hound would answer Red Alert, keeping on guard. "Place like this probably has maintenance drones, but saying it's one of them might be too optimistic."

Raiku had been the next to climb up the shaky ladder of boxes, and managed to be close enough to hear Hound speak up.

"The last thing I want to see is any more drones," The mechanic spoke bitterly. He waited at the edge of the busted window, teetering a bit as he judged how to get down with his braced-up arm reducing his balance a bit. Eventually he moved forward a bit, stepping onto one of the computer consoles before the window, then making the hop down to floor level.

Heinrad

2013-12-29, 10:07 PM

Soundwave Facility:

Roadbuster thought for a moment, consulting the schematics he'd memorized. Holstering the grenade launcher, he pulled one of the microwave pistols, aimed at an interior wall with both the microwaver and the linear blaster cannon, and opened fire. the cannon to breach the wall, the microwaver to fry the electronics inside.

Warcry

2014-01-01, 07:09 AM

Soundwave Facility

"It almost doesn't matter," Red Alert told Hound. "Any drone we find here is Soundwave's property and we have to consider it at least as dangerous as the ones we found at the military base. I'd almost rather run into a Decepticon. At least you can reason with one of those."

He glanced at Raiku and added, "I'd say that if we do, we should shoot on sight. It'll give Volks something to do when he's not hacking."

He glanced down at the room's computers, then shrugged. "Speaking of...it doesn't look like these are getting any power. I don't see any circuit breakers here. Do you see any way to turn them on?"

Aero Blade

2014-01-27, 05:50 PM

Soundwave Facility

"That'd probably alert Soundwave to our position, not that he probably isn't already painfully aware of us," Hound offered as mention of the computers was made.

"The sooner we're out of here the better," Raiku answered. "Leave it unless we need it, I'd say."

"Time to move along then," Hound answered. "Spot anything we should be worried about?" He'd ask towards Red Alert. Hound finally got up and moved a few steps forward, keeping his weapon ready and alert as he studied the room a bit more.

Warcry

2014-02-03, 02:58 AM

Soundwave Facility

Red Alert walked up to the door, taking great care not to touch it at he peered at the surface, the tiny gaps between it, the walls and the floor in several different spectra before saying, "I don't see anything. And I don't hear anything either, so hopefully we're not going to open the door right into an ambush."

He glanced at Hound. "You want to do the honours?"

Aero Blade

2014-02-03, 08:31 PM

Soundwave Facility

Hound would nod to Red Alert without saying anything, stepping ahead and opening the door. He waited there a moment looking around, blocking the frame in the event any shots came out at him, scanning the next room for any threats or traps.

Raiku stayed back from the two more experienced bots, but he too was looking into the next room, using his ability to see if there were any energy patterns he could detect coming from within.

Springer85

2014-02-06, 04:08 PM

Soundwave Facility

"Patience?" Volks replied to Raiku. "I don't do patience. I'm not wired that way," he shrugged. "I'm just like Skullgrin in Attack of the Killer Mecannibals 4. I'm here to bust a cap in some Decepticreeps," he said as he pointed his photon pistol in various directions.

"Mission aready went downhill for me when I was put together in a group with Red Alert, if you ask me," Volks mumbled while staying close to the group.

______________________

Kelex Space Station

Wheeljack scratched the back of his head. "Well I consider myself a fair mech. Strange that you weren't updated on our arrival, but I guess the Prime has more important things on his mind than the safety of two engineers," he shrugged.

"Yes, please. Show us the way," he said to Skyblast as he folded out a small cart and put some of his equipment with him. "It's a good thing I packed light. Highbrow will take care of the rest.

Warcry

2014-02-14, 04:57 AM

Soundwave Facility

As the door swung open, Red Alert saw nothing that looked especially threatening. The room opened up into a wide corridor, one which seemed to run the length of the facility, branching off in different directions.

The security officer shrugged. "From here, it's anyone's guess where we go next. Any of these halls could lead to pretty much anywhere. Unless you see something I don't," he said to Raiku, "we might as well just pick one direction and go with it."

While he was speaking, he'd spared a moment to glare at Volks for his insult.
_____________________________

Kelex Space Station

Skyblast watched the equipment that Wheeljack loaded into the cart, seemingly casually but in truth he was examining the selection to ensure that none of it could be easily weaponized.

"Follow me," he told the other Autobot. "The main dock isn't far, but it can be a bit tricky to get there." As they started to move through the station, the Omnicon would duck through a veritable maze of catwalks, equipment and equipment racks. "We don't get too many visitors here. It's a fuelling station, after all. Lots of ships stop but nobody actually comes on board. So ease of navigation wasn't one of the concerns when they designed the place, and it can be a real nightmare to find your way around if you're not familiar with the layout."

But Skyblast obviously knew the place like the back of his hand, because within a few minutes they'd arrived at a docking station with a large viewing window. Through the window, the battle-scarred, ancient cylindrical hull of a Supreme-type sentinel.

Wheeljack looked around as he moved his way through the space station while following Skyblast. "Quite a mess this place is. I'll feel right at home. I never know where I put what either. Usually at the times when I need it the most," he joked.

As they passed the window, Wheeljack looked through it. Wheeljack remained silent for a moment. Never in his wildest imagination would he have thought to see an ancient Transformers such as him. "Wow," he said, being a bit lost for words. "Looks like he had it a bot rough. I hope I can help. Is he still functioning?"

Aero Blade

2014-02-24, 12:07 AM

Soundwave Facility

Raiku spared Volks a look that didn't quite resemble a scowl. "You're scary, you know that? And not in the way you're intending," his tone suggesting less 'scary' and more 'weird'.

He turned his attention to Red Alert, giving a frown. "There's a lot more energy up here than I'm used to having to filter, it's very hard to see anything," he admitted.

Hound meanwhile would give a bit of a shrug. "Do what you can." The scout began to move forward, staying alert as he would crossing a minefield in enemy territory, expecting anything to jump out at him as he began to proceed down the hall ahead of the others.

Warcry

2014-02-24, 06:06 AM

Soundwave Facility

"That may be deliberate," Red Alert told Raiku with a suspicious tone in his voice. "Soundwave knows you. He may have put in additional power conduits in the facility just to mess with your abilities. We should keep a look out for anything that looks like new additions, or places where more power is flowing than it should. In this case a coverup could reveal almost as much as what it's hiding."

He followed behind Hound, happy that the scout was around to lead the way safely in situations like this.
_____________________________

Kelex Space Station

Skyblast nodded. "He's as functional as you'd expect after spending the last three months being shot up by Decepticons," he told Wheeljack. "The external damage is something that his self-repair drones could take care of, except...well, they don't seem to be working. Power distribution systems and main engines are also in a sorry state of disrepair too, which is to be expected when the guy hasn't moved from his parking orbit in a thousand years. So those are what he needs help with most. Of course..." Skyblast gestured to the station around them. "If you think this place is a mess you're really going to love it in there. I swear some of his systems are built from clockwork."

Springer85

2014-03-20, 08:50 PM

Kelex Space Station

"Poor guy..." Wheeljack said as Skyblast informed him that the Omega Sentinel had been figting off Decepticons for quite a while.

"Alright, so the repair drones need repairing, the engines need to be looked at and the power systems needs to be checked, right? Wheeljack cracks his digits. "Well, looks like we got our work cut out for us. Not going to be easy though."

Wheeljack motions to Highbrow. "Highbrow, can you start working on the drones? I'll see what I can do on the power distribution." Wheeljack looked at Skyblast. "Where do I enter?"

Aero Blade

2014-03-24, 05:27 AM

((ooc: yay for work, and being the only person to fill a shift, no matter what time it is. And being sick hasn't helped either, but hopefully I'm back on track. Let me know if I need to make any adjustments here Wacry.))

Soundwave Facility

It was slow going traversing the corridors within Soundwave, especially when every move you made needed to be approved by the 'committee'. Hound would stop periodically to compare the state of the area to the map he had, Raiku would catch a fluctuation in the energy matrix that would need to be monitored briefly, Red Alert would hear or smell something that wasn't quite right, and every time any of it happened they had to compare notes to if things were alright to proceed. It was all very time consuming. Hound couldn't help but wonder if this was what it was like to try to accomplish anything as a politician, though the other senators weren't liable to kill you.

"When we get planet-side again, I think I'm gonna have a nice long chat with Prowl about whichever idiot was brazen enough to design this mess..." Hound complained, mostly to himself.

Warcry

2014-04-16, 12:21 AM

(OOC: So sorry guys, site stuff killed me. Back now!)

Facility

"I doubt anyone down on Cybertron designed this," Red Alert told Hound. "Soundwave probably issued fraudulent work orders. Used our own staff to modify the place into a death trap maze." He growled. "Just one more crime he needs to pay for."

He looked back down the corridor toward where they'd come.

"We've walked from one end to the other and not seen a single useful hint about where to go," he said at last. "As much as I hate to say it, I think we might need to just pick one pathway at random and start going."
_____________________________

Kelex Space Station

"Yeah," Skyblast agreed with Wheeljack. "He's so old though, my people couldn't even tell which of the damage was caused by the Decepticons and which of it might have just been from thousands of years of unaddressed wear and tear."

Skyblast walked over to the nearby control panel and typed in a command sequence, then pressed his palm over a scanning pad. The panel then displayed a "waiting..." message.

"I've set up access for you," he said. "Just run your hand across the scanner so it can record your circuit signature. Then you'll be able to come and go through the airlock at your leisure."

Aero Blade

2014-04-29, 02:33 PM

Soundwave Facility

"I can see now why Prowl had been so stressed out about this thing. I only wish we'd been able to do something about it before it got blown up into this whole situation," Hound answered to Red Alert.

While the others were talking, Raiku was taking another long look around, trying to find something, anything, that might be helpful. Raiku had done enough work on computer systems hardware to know something like Soundwave had to have a lot of power running to him, but the blasted thing had rigged all the power to flow through so many conduits wrapping back and forth, it formed a maze of power conduits that blocked his vision. But Soundwave couldn't disguise what direction the power was flowing, and as long as they'd been wandering, Raiku was starting to tune into his power frequency. It was still a maze of power flow twisting in all directions, but there was one spot where most of the power seemed to converge to. Unless Soundwave wanted to reduce his own power input to make something else look more important, that had to be it...

"This way. I think..." Raiku spoke, adding the last part with no small amount of concern. There was still no way of knowing for sure where they were headed, or what they were walking in to.

Warcry

2014-05-14, 07:15 PM

Soundwave Facility

"The problem is, Prowl was perfectly happy to let this happen as long as he thought Soundwave was on his side," Red Alert told Hound. "Anyone with an ounce of common sense could have told him it was a bad idea from the get-go."

The detective frowned in the direction that Raiku had indicated. He didn't see anything that indicated this was the right way to go...but then he didn't see anything that indicated it wasn't, either. His frown deepened as he fought to ignore the feeling of uselessness that washed over him.

He followed Raiku into the indicated corridor, keeping a lookout for threats in whatever shape they might come.

For whatever good that'll do...

Aero Blade

2014-07-11, 07:02 PM

Soundwave Facility

For a while, travelling their new corridor, the group would find things quiet - meeting no traps or enemies. Despite the way seeming all-clear, Raiku would find his pace slowed, nerves wracked at the lack of opposition. Were they going the wrong way, and thus no need to attack them? Maybe the traps from before were attempts to herd them, and they stopped now that they were on the 'right' track?

Raiku would eventually stop moving all together, distracted by these thoughts until he found Hound and Red Alert beside him. Raiku gave a brief sigh before pushing his feet to start moving again, proceeding again down the foreboding corridor.

Warcry

2014-08-12, 04:35 AM

Soundwave Facility

As the group moved around the corridor, they would notice the lights start to grow progressively dimmer. Red Alert could have sworn he saw something moving through the shadows, tailing them as they followed the path that they had obviously been funnelled onto. He tensed, expecting the attack, but it didn't come and that only increased his tension.

As they advanced, the light gave out almost entirely, but the changing tenor of the room's echoes made it clear to them that they'd moved from the cramped corridor into a larger, much more open room. Red Alert tried to assemble a mental image of it for later use, but his concentration was interrupted by a deeply-flanged voice erupting from countless small speakers.

"You shouldn't have come here," Soundwave told them.

Aero Blade

2014-08-12, 01:44 PM

Soundwave Facility

Hound had been scanning the room as they moved into it (to help him with not being able to see, but also to double-check where they were on Prowl's map) when he would lose his focus upon hearing the booming voice, startling him from his activity.

Raiku had been startled by the voice as well, but it was quickly replaced with another emotion, anger. He recognized the voice all too well, from the drones that had been attacking him not long ago. Raiku's expression twisted up into a snarl, speaking in a low growl. "Soundwave..."

Warcry

2014-08-15, 08:44 PM

Soundwave Facility

"Yes," Soundwave admitted. "Me. You should not have come, Autobots. Your lives are now forfeit."

Although the Decepticon didn't seem to be in the room with them, it seemed like his focus narrowed then to just Raiku.

Red Alert tuned out his ranting and concentrated on the room, slowly walking into it, letting the echoes of his footfalls tell him the room's dimensions at the same time as his keen sense of smell helped to clarify what it's contents were.

Based on what he smelled, he didn't think they'd be happy when Soundwave turned on the lights.

"I gave you a chance," Soundwave continued "You could have simply kept your nose out of my business. But you kept looking. Kept digging. Kept following my trail. If you'd just left well enough alone, you could have lived out the rest of your life happily ignorant. But you chose this, Raiku."

The lights turned on.

The room was full of bodies. Some of bore military markings -- the remains of Prowl's repair team, no doubt. Others were clearly civilian, with markings indicating they were tradesmechs, technicians and maintenance engineers. The soldiers had been killed in a wide variety of ways, probably by assorted death traps, but the civilians...they'd been torn apart, ripped to pieces by claw and fang. And judging by the sheer number of tool marks on the bodies, it hadn't been quick.

Poor bastards, Red Alert though, feeling a pang of sympathy even though he didn't know any of the ones who'd died.

He suspected, however, that Raiku had.

"You chose this," Soundwave said again, as if to drive it home.
_________________________________

Kelex Space Station

The engineers had set up shop inside Omega Supreme several hours ago, and already the ancient mobile war fortress had started to look a lot better...from the outside, anyway. Drones crawled across the hull, replacing blast-damaged and age-worn plating with new, uniform dull grey ablative armour. The huge rocket engine on one end of the Sentinel was being refurbished, as was the primary cannon at the nose.

But the signs of battle were growing closer, with explosions now visible to Skyblast from the station's control room even without any magnification. The Omnicon frowned, hoping that the job would be done before the Decepticons arrived to kill them all.

Aero Blade

2014-08-15, 11:44 PM

Soundwave Facility

Hound was appalled, even angered, at the sight around him. How did Soundwave get so many bodies up here without anyone noticing? But then again with all of his access, control of the drones, he could easily move such numbers without anyone noticing, or even eliminating witnesses and adding them to this mess... Hound looked briefly over at Red Alert to guage his reaction, but was quickly distracted instead by Raiku.

The mechanic had dropped to his knees, mouth hanging open slightly (his color probably would have drained out of his face were he capable of it). Almost every body, every mangled corpse laid out around them, Raiku knew. Some of them acquaintances, others neighbors, many of them coworkers, and his friends... every bot that he knew personally, closely, was on top of the piles, placed as though deliberately arranged. Everyone, ever single being that it seemed like Raiku had known from his life, were now sparkless shells laid out before him. The risk to the people around him - it was what Raiku had feared the most when all this had started - and the worst of what he had feared was now manifest before him.

Raiku's head sank to looking at the floor, all of his senses going numb as his mind swam with all the details. Not even Hound yelling his name and shaking his shoulder could break through the haze.

Warcry

2014-08-19, 08:25 PM

Soundwave Facility

Raiku's reactions confirmed Red Alert's suspicions, and also inconveniently left the security officer basically alone to deal with whatever else Soundwave had to throw at them -- Roadbuster had wandered off to find a fight, Volks had stayed behind trying to hack a computer terminal, Raiku was understandably catatonic and Hound was going to be occupied tending to him for the foreseeable future.

Which, clearly, had been the Decepticon's plan all along. Divide and conquer. And he'd divided them, alright.

I should have stayed out of this. I bet Nightbeat isn't having this kind of problems...

"All of these people are dead because of you," Soundwave was saying. "They died because you wouldn't stop interfering in the affairs of your betters. They--"

"Soundwave, let me be the first to say...shut the hell up!"

Before the Decepticon had a chance to respond, Red Alert drew both of his pistols and fired off nine rounds, each one finding its mark and destroying one of the hidden speakers that dotted the room. But even with their enemy thus silenced, Red couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched.

He turned to the other two Autobots and said, "We need to get moving. We're not alone here."

Aero Blade

2014-08-21, 08:39 PM

Soundwave Facility

It would be the sound of Red Alert's weapon that pulled Raiku out of his haze, looking up in alarm. Whether it was a reflex to the sound of a weapon due to Soundwave's hunting him before, or simply the volume of the noise, was anyone's guess.

With Raiku conscious again, Hound would haul him back to his feet, getting his own gun ready and scowling as he looked around the room again for any further traps aside from the psychological one in this room.

"We gotta be close," Hound would say aloud, making a motion to point towards the doorway to the next room with his weapon.

Heinrad

2014-08-24, 12:10 AM

Soundwave Facility:

'This', thought Roadbuster, 'is boring.'

He'd blown holes through walls.

He'd microwaved computer banks.

He'd smashed delicate circuitry.

And for all that effort, he hadn't gotten much attention. A few traps had gone off, sure. Heck, at one point he'd blown through an outer wall, but emergency force fields had popped up.

Finally he'd just started smashing consoles at random as he wandered through the station. So much for distracting Soundwave.

Then he wandered through yet another set of doors and stumbled across the rest of the group.

And the bodies.

His emerald green optic band widened in surprise, and he looked over at Red. "Well, that answers one question........."

Warcry

2014-08-26, 07:29 PM

Soundwave Facility

Red Alert spun around as Roadbuster joined them, almost shooting the other Autobot before recognition kicked in. Amidst the sound of his own gunfire, he hadn't heard his approach.

He took a second to calm himself, then said, "What question? And have you seen Volks at all?"

He glanced at Hound, nodded and said, "I agree. He wouldn't go to all this trouble if we had wandered into some unimportant corner of the station. The question is, can Raiku help us along the rest of the way?"
_________________________________

Kelex Space Station

Skyblast had just settled back in to his routine in the command centre when Offshoot came up to him, frowning.

"What is it?"

"Something on the scopes, sir." The other Omnicon brought up an image on Skyblast's display. "A ship incoming. An old Z8-class patrol vessel flying Decepticon colours."

Fear started to claw at the Omnicon's guts. The ship was obsolete, to be sure, but it carried a heavy weapons load and could transport a sizeable contingent of troops. The repair station was barely armed, and their security forces were more customs inspectors than soldiers.

"Dammit. Are you sure they're coming here?"

"As sure as can be. Their vector and speed suggest they're planning to match orbits with us."

Skyblast let out a curse, then cast a glance up at the commander's office. "Okay. Let her know what's going on. I'll put in a distress call to our sector hub."

And hope that they have anything left to help us with...
_________________________________

Orbital Command Hub, Sector K

Skydive nervously approached his commander's status board and meekly cleared his throat. "Sir? We've got a distress call coming in from one of the sectors in our station."

Silverbolt didn't even look up from his board. "Tell them they're on their own," he said. "All of our resources are already in the field."

"I, uh..." Skydive tried not to visually quail. "I'm sorry, sir, but I can't do that. It's Kelex. It was on the list of top-priority facilities that the courier from the surface brought us."

That got Silverbolt to look up. "I understand that, but we still can't help them. Half of our flyers are dead and the rest are engaged defending a platform with over fifty thousand people living on it."

"But sir, our orders..."

Silverbolt sighed. "Skydive, the grand total of field-rated flyers left at this base are you, three other cadets and myself. It would be irresponsible of me to take you into a battle where we were so badly overmatched. If there was something we could do..." He shook his head. "But there's not."

"We could move the station." Skydive passed a tablet to the other Autobot. "I did some calculations. We're not far off from their orbit as-is, astronomically speaking. Using our steering thrusters, we could accelerate into a higher orbit and arrive at Kelex not long after the Decepticons do. Our defensive batteries could make a big difference in the fight."

Silverbolt frowned. "Moving off-station would hamper our ability to coordinate forces in this sector," he said, "though I suppose that wouldn't matter much now. Okay, do it. And Skydive?"

The younger Autobot met his optics for the first time.

"Good thinking."

Warcry

2014-08-28, 05:26 PM

"This is Prowl – has your mission been successful?"
___________________________________________

Soundwave Facility

Red Alert replied to Prowl's call curtly. "Not exactly. Roadbuster has damaged some equipment and Volks is attacking the software side of the problem, but Soundwave himself is still at large."

Aero Blade

2014-08-28, 06:45 PM

Soundwave Facility

Hound gave a slight frown at Red Alert's question, but before he could say anything further, Raiku had pulled away from him, starting to move towards the exit.

Raiku said nothing, and his mood was both sullen and sterile. He didn't even really seem aware of the others around him, not interacting with them. To some degree he was still disassociated with the rest of the world around him, the shock of what had just happened still weighing on him....but somewhere in his mind he knew he needed to keep going. Even though every other fiber in his body just wanted to lie down and die, to join the others in passing, he knew he couldn't do it here. He couldn't give Soundwave the satisfaction, the complete victory. Rejoining his friends in the allspark would have to wait.

Warcry

2014-08-29, 05:00 PM

Soundwave Facility

"Okay then." Red Alert watched Raiku get up and head for the door, an unreadable expression on his face. Sidling up to Hound, he whispered, "One of us needs to make sure he doesn't get himself killed."

As the group moved into the next room, it was clear they'd found their goal. The chamber was huge, nearly a mile square, packed to the gills with redundant racks of servers, backup hard drives, communications antennae and hundreds of miles of optical cable.

Skyblast watched the approaching Decepticon warship, an ever-deepening frown on his face. On the viewer, he could see smaller ships breaking off of the larger vessel like cyber-fleas deserting a dying turbofox. The small starfighters dove in at the station, moving too quickly for their guns to track.

"I don't know how much progress you've made," he said over the comm to the engineering team, "but you'd better get that old bucket ready to move soon or it never will!"

At the same time he sounded the evacuation protocol, telling the civilian vessels who were docked with the station to take off now and get out of what would soon be a free-fire zone.

On the plus side, one of the nearby military stations seemed to be drifting in their direction, and the odds would hopefully even out some once they arrived.

Aero Blade

2014-08-30, 12:07 AM

Soundwave Facility

As Red Alert came up beside him and whispered, Hound would give a brief nod, having observed and come to the same conclusion about Raiku. "Perhaps even after this is all over..." Hound whispered back.

With Raiku proceeding ahead, Hound would follow along side with Red Alert into what what seemed to be the core of the Soundwave Facility. Hound almost as a reflex would start to scan the area, trying to detect any threats and to just get a good reading of the area, confirm where they were.

Raiku ahead of them was just standing there numbly, gazing at the giant computer system infront of them.

Blackjack

2014-08-30, 04:24 AM

Kelex Space Station

"Open." Arcee said as the door to her office did so to admit Offshoot. She scowled as she looked at the monitor showing the approaching Decepticon warship. Even if they're not protecting Omega Supreme, Arcee wouldn't rate their chances against that warship pretty highly. And while communications had been cut off from Iacon, even from orbit Arcee could see Iacon being engulfed by some form or purple crystals.

The military base heading towards them... won't be able to do much, Arcee thought. They were too slow. By the time it reached Kelex, it would have been boarded, if not destroyed.

She shook her head from the monitors and turned to look at Offshoot. "What is going on? Everything's gone to scrap and I want some answers."

Warcry

2014-09-02, 05:59 PM

Soundwave Facility

"Prowl says not to die," Red Alert told the rest of the team dryly. "I'm sure we'll take his advice into account..."

He moved slowly into the room, frowning. He saw movement on the edges of his visual field, but when he turned to look directly at the shadows he didn't see anything.

"Try to keep each other in sight," he warned them. "If we get split up, he can pick us off one by one. This way we can at least -- aaah!"

With no warning a dark grey feline form melted out of the shadows, lunging at the police officer with lightning speed. He ducked, but still lost one of his head-horns to the creature's claws.

He brought one of his pistols up to target the beast, but by the time he'd tracked its line of motion it had already disappeared.

"Dammit! Did anyone else see that?"
_________________________________

Kelex Space Station

"The Decepticons are moving on us," Offshoot told Arcee, somewhat obviously. "A small warship with several fighters attached. Skyblast thinks they're coming for the Sentinel we're refitting, and he's already started to evacuate civilians."

His head tilted to one side. "Oh! Some good news. Communications with the ground have been restored." He straightened up again. "Bad news. Iacon has been bombarded with some sort of Energon-based weapon that has destroyed most of the city's infrastructure. Most of the other city-states have been hit at least as hard. Mass evacuations and high civilian casualties."

The station rocked. "Oh! More bad news. We're under fire from the Decepticons!"
_________________________________

Skyquake flew ahead at the vanguard of the Decepticon attack group, and watched as the ship fired a barrage of green missiles at the Autobot facility. The base's energy shield held against the barrage, but clearly strained under the force of the attack.

Hound didn't see the form that had attacked Red Alert before it disappeared again, but having been scanning the new room, his sensors snagged it no problem. A moment later and Hound had generated a hologram of their assailant.

"Not a standard drone model, but I wouldn't expect that at this point. Soundwave's been busy," Hound commented, keeping alert and his riffle ready. Chances were there might be more. "That's probably been what's trailing us through the station, or more like it."

Raiku himself didn't seem to be paying attention to the rest of the group, still in his despondent, half-aware state. He seemed to be scanning Soundwave with his special vision, or perhaps just zoned out staring at him.

Blackjack

2014-09-08, 02:23 PM

Kelex Space Station

Arcee let out a soft snarl as Offshoot started rattling off a series of bad news -- several of which are relatively obvious. But there was the confirmation, and she could work better with that. "Skyblast." Arcee opened a commlink to the other Omnicon. "Where are you evacuating the civilians? They won't survive the onslaught and the Decepticons aren't taking prisoners. I-"

Arcee stopped, thinking to herself and biting her lower lip as the missiles slammed against the space station. There was only one way to save the civilians... the Omega Sentinel. Even though it's the only thing which the Decepticons are coming from. "Skyblast, evacuate the civilians into the Sentinel. That thing is the only place with strong enough armour to survive the onslaught."

She switched commlinks. "Bridge, activate force fields and autoguns and hold off as long as we can. Give me a status report."

"Offshoot, try to contact Autobot command. Tell them what's going on, ask them about any orders we have." Arcee said, before pressing a button which would connect her to Omega Supreme. She hasn't really talked to the Sentinel much, nor does he seem to be very chatty, but it was worth the courtesy call. "Omega Supreme, this is Commander Arcee of the Kelex Space Station. We are under attack, and I'm requesting permission to send civilians to seek shelter within you. May I also request a status update on your situation?"

Warcry

2014-09-09, 06:57 PM

Soundwave Facility

Red Alert frowned. "That assumes that they're even drones. They could be full-fledged intelligences in their own right," he told Hound. "We shouldn't underestimate them until we know for sure. They might--"

"CAW!"

This time, Red Alert got a good look as a pair of avian beasts, both similar in construction to the mechanism that Hound had shown via hologram, dropped down from the rafters. The one with gold markings swooped down at Hound, slashing at the cannon on his shoulder with a razor-sharp beak. The other circled toward Roadbuster, firing lasers mounted at the base of its red-tinted wings.

(OOC: I didn't see a profile so I'm assuming Hound's carrying the same gear as the G1 toy. If I'm wrong, just act as if he attacked the rifle or something. :) )
_________________________________

Kelex Space Station

"The civilian ships are already launching," Skyblast told Arcee. "I'm not sure we could stop them even if we wanted to. Most of them are heading for the edges of the system, so at least they'll be marginally more safe there. I'll get Strongarm and his crew to start ushering the rest into Omega Supreme."

He waved curtly at the security officer, signalling him to get moving. Strongarm gave him a nod, then sprinted for the nearest lift.

"Shields are holding for now, but they're meant to ward off accidental collisions, not ship-to-ship missiles. I don't give them more than ten minutes. Our autoguns are active, but they're proving inadequate to the task of targeting the fighters."
_________________________________

Offshoot tried to punch a signal through to Autobot command, but shook his head.

"The Decepticon ship has a jamming field up," he told Arcee, "and they're between us and Cybertron. I can't get a call through. Maybe we could try and route it through a different station and then back, but that's Skyblast's area of expertise, not mine."

As he spoke, a red swept-wing Decepticon fighter flew by the office's window, way too close for comfort, and fired a pair of bright green missiles. The projectiles, thankfully, exploded when they hit the defensive shields.
_________________________________

"Miss...Arcee, is it?" The voice that responded clearly wasn't Omega Supreme. "This is Doctor Smokescreen. I'm Omega Supreme's...therapist, I suppose. Yes, I know, that's strange. Anyway, he doesn't talk much. His armour has been fully repaired and his main cannon is active, but his shields and point-defence weapons are still offline. He's fully fuelled and his engines are functional, but they're not running. From what I understand, a cold restart will take at least twelve minutes. And yes, of course you can use him as an evacuation shelter."

A curt, annoyed-sounding reply was audible, but not understandable, in the background. Smokescreen ignored it.

"I'll get some of the drones to meet your people at the airlock and show them to the habitat section. I have to warn you, though...the rooms here are spartan even by modern military standards."

Aero Blade

2014-09-10, 01:54 PM

((OOC: yeah this is pretty much G1 Hound + a riffle. The thing mounted on his shoulder is used for his holograms and as a laser cannon, though he usually will stick to the riffle and holograms (saves some energy) ))

Soundwave Facility

Hound would jerk out of the way of the passing avian beast, but not before it slashed a good chunk out of his shoulder-mounted cannon, causing his hologram to fizzle out immediately. Hound swung back around and brought his riffle to bare on the yellow bird, firing several shots at it.

The gunfire would once again pull Raiku out of his daze (for the most part), and upon seeing the bird-like mechanisms he would go for his own pistol, finally pulling it from its holster. He had no idea what to do with it, though, not without risking shooting one of his teammates.

Blackjack

2014-09-19, 11:34 AM

Kelex Space Station

"Hopefully they'll make it." Arcee replied to Skyblast. It was out of her control -- she hated having things spiral out of control, but the civilian ships aren't technically under her jurisdiction and them being gone meant less headache for her. In a darker tone, they would be more distractions for the Decepticons to hunt down, minimizing the amount of forces they had to handle.

Ten minutes.

"Ten minutes is our projected timeframe, then. Have our crew hold out as long as they can, but try to reroute commands so they can do so remotely -- I want as few personnel in Kelex as possible."

She turned to Offshoot and nodded. She didn't really expect much in lieu of reinforcements. "Skyblast, while you're at it, see if you can reroute a signal through a different station to our forces in Iacon. It's a long shot, but if we can get ahold of any… survivors, then we might be able to regroup and figure out what the Pit we're supposed to do."

She winced as a red Decepticon opened fire, which was absorbed by the defense shield. She didn't have time to react, though -- the autoguns and shields will do their part. Hers was to coordinate. She turned to Offshoot and gestured for the other Omnicon to follow her as she headed towards the bridge, giving her office a short last look before walking out.

She took Smokescreen's call, and was actually glad someone else was speaking in Omega Supreme's behalf. She wasn't sure if she was ready to talk to an Omega Sentinel just yet. "Circumstances really have been 'strange' for the past few days, doctor Smokescreen. Our space station will be overloaded in around ten, and the Decepticons will no doubt try to board Omega Supreme. We'll try to make good in the short timeframe that we can, and give him as much time to board." She smiled slightly as Smokescreen spoke about living standards. "Trust me, Doctor -- no one right now really cares much about whether a room has a hot energon tub or not. We'll be glad if we survive the next twelve minutes."

Switching channels, she opened a wide-channel broadcast to all the Omnicons and civilians in Kelex: "All non-essential personnel, this is Commander Arcee. Evacuate into Omega Supreme as soon as you can. Shoot to defend yourself from the Decepticons. Omega Supreme must not fall. I repeat, we're not letting them take Omega Supreme."

Warcry

2014-09-21, 03:15 AM

Soundwave Facility

The golden bird disappeared up into the rafters before Hound's shot could reach it, and it was impossible to tell whether it was hit or not. However, it didn't come back down.

Several more shredded-metal-looking beasts, however, did join the fray. These were slower-moving but more heavily-built. The trio's frames were constructed in simian, theropod and thyreophoran style respectively, and they lumbered towards the Autobots with heavy weapons mounted.

"This is ridiculous," Red Alert said. "Who knows how many of these he's got. There could be one hiding behind every one of these server stacks!"

The police officer transformed to vehicle mode.

"I say we make them chase us!" Then he roared off, leaving streaks of rubber on the floor as he accelerated into the massive room, swerving around piles of computer equipment.
_________________________________

Kelex Space Station

"I'll do my best, commander," Skyblast replied to Arcee. "The Decepticons are doing a good job of making sure there aren't any other stations out there to bounce off of, though. Six of them have dropped off my sensor grid on our sector in the last ten minutes. Worst-case scenario, I may need to go out there personally and get out of range of their jamming."

The Omnicon didn't sound enthusiastic about that scenario at all.
_________________________________

Offshoot turned to leave, then stopped and said, "I almost hate to ask, commander, but...does that last order apply to us as well? It might be safer to set up a command center inside the Sentinel. For the evacuees, I mean. To make sure they can see that there's someone there, in command, taking care of them."

He forced himself to stop chattering and hoped that Arcee hadn't heard the obvious fear in his voice.

Blackjack

2014-09-28, 01:48 PM

(OOC: sorry, been a while)

Kelex Space Station

Arcee nodded at Skyblast. “Do your best, but don’t risk your neck unnecessarily. Would rather be cut off and have you alive rather than lose both you and not get communications. I need as many officers alive, and I doubt they can give us much in terms of orders anyway.”

She turned to Offshoot and nodded at the younger Omnicon. She was about to send Offshoot away even if he wasn’t so obviously afraid anyway. “Yes, I plan to set up a command center inside Omega Supreme. Until that happens, though, I am the captain of this station and I’ll stay with those that are still maintaining operations. You, on the other hand, should get on the next shuttle to the Sentinel. We need as many officers to quickly set up operations there, and that includes you.”

Arcee paused as they reached a group of Autobot heading towards the evacuation pods, and gave Offshoot a nod, her face trying to be impassive. “If I don’t make it, try and keep everyone alive.”

Aero Blade

2014-09-30, 10:55 PM

((ooc: Work strikes again here as well, don't sweat it Black))

Soundwave Facility

Hound turned his head as Red Alert took off, but didn't immediately move himself. He instead snapped his head back to Raiku, who bound by his arm-braced, would be unable to transform. With Red Alert taking off, though, Raiku would do what he could to keep up on foot, left with no other options. Hound would be just a step behind him, wanting to make sure the other two's backs were covered in case something else even nastier popped out.

"Let's go, Roadbuster!" Hound would shout.

Warcry

2014-10-08, 07:37 PM

Soundwave Facility

Red Alert dodged around Soundwave's simian minion, or so he thought -- the monkey-armed purple mech grabbed into his spoiler and held tight. Red Alert swerved to jerk his attacker loose, but all he managed to do was drag the beast along the floor behind him.

Meanwhile the other two beasts closed in on Hound and Raiku, intend on boxing the duo in.

"Do either of you have any idea where we need to look?" Red asked, still trying to shake his foe. "Even a general direction would be nice..."
_________________________________

Kelex Space Station

"Trust me, ma'am," Skyblast replied to Arcee, "I don't have any ambition to get killed. I'm going to take Signal Flare down to the #7 airlock and see if I can get a line-of-sight connection to any of the stations spinward of us."

He locked down the station, then waved at the other Omnicon to follow him out of the command deck.
_________________________________

"Yes, ma'am," Offshoot nodded to Arcee. "I'll coordinate with this 'Smokescreen' fellow and get a nerve center set up ASAP. Once it's ready, I'll let you know."

Aero Blade

2014-10-14, 07:28 PM

Soundwave Facility

Hound and Raiku were doing what they could to keep the hulking drones off of them, having to rely on ducking around the equipment and opening fire on their pursuers, but there was little they could do to slow the behemoths down.

"The map's lost, my hologram generator is shot!" Hound yelled back to Red Alert when they had a moment. "Raiku!"

With the prompting, Raiku would stop shooting for a moment to use his vision. It was a maze of power patterns running through all of the equipment, but there was one thing he could pick out, one massive well of power.

"All the power's routing that way, it has to be him!" Raiku reported to the others.

Heinrad

2014-10-18, 02:32 AM

Soundwave Facility:

Roadbuster's shoulder mounted shrapnel cannon tracked the avian with the red wings, firing blast after blast as he fell back behind Hound, adding in fire from his linear blaster cannon and grenade launcher as he covered the retreat from the room.

Blackjack

2014-10-28, 01:42 PM

(OOC: I'm back sorta)

Kelex Space Station

"Good luck." Arcee told Skyblast, and nodded at Offshoot. Seeing the two Omnicrons on their way, Arcee walked up to the now nearly-deserted Bridge, and stood, arms folded, as she watched the carnage outside the window.

There are a lot of Decepticon fighters.

And all she could do is stand here and wait. She loathed that. She wanted nothing more than to gear up and go out there, take potshots at the Decepticons, scream profanities and do something, but she can't. She has responsibilities now. She had to respect these officers who still remain while the evacuation to Omega Supreme takes place.

But that doesn't make Arcee not want to get out there and put holes in the heads of the bastards who did this to her station.

After Raiku gave them a direction, Red Alert swerved off of his current course, floored his accelerator and headed where the other Autobot had pointed. "Roadbuster, you've got the big guns. Can you take point? I don't like my odds, or the others', against whatever Soundwave's got waiting for us."
_________________________________

The red beast squawked as Roadbuster peppered its wings with shrapnel, dropping from the sky and scuttling behind a server rack to use it as cover. The bulkier theropod beast started to lumber in its direction, evidently intent on protecting it.
_________________________________

Kelex Space Station

As Offshoot made his way to the nearby airlock, the one where the Sentinel was docked, the station rocked harder than usual from one of the incoming volleys.

That one didn't hit the shields, he realized.

Moments later, as if the world was agreeing with him, a klaxon cut through the din of the station. "Warning: hull breach in section D, decks fourteen through twenty-two. Repeat, hull breach in section D, decks fourteen through twenty-two. All hands are advised to seek alternate escape routes immediately."

The crowd around him started to panic, but Offshoot tried to keep his cool. Falling back on his training as a bridge officer, he raised his voice and said, "Don't panic! If you keep moving, we'll all make it to the Sentinel safely."

The crowd seemed to react positively to his words...for a while, anyway. But their panic quickly returned, and Offshoot could see why. Through the corridor's floor-to-ceiling window a brightly-coloured Decepticon fighter could be seen swooping down towards them, missiles ready. With the shields down, Offshoot knew that their chances of survival were minimal. He prepared himself for death...then felt relief wash over him as the fighter exploded. A spacecraft with more subdued colours flew through the space he'd just occupied and rolled as if to show off his Autobrands to the group he'd just saved.

"I said get moving!" Offshoot barked. "We've got cover, but it won't last forever. We need to get to that Sentinel!"

This time, the crowd did as he'd asked. As they did, Offshoot muttered a silent thanks to whoever had just saved their butts.
_________________________________

"Nice shot, Air Raid! But try not to cut it so close next time!" Silverbolt cut through the void of space in fighter mode, overseeing the squad of young fighters who'd been all he'd had left on the station when Kelex's distress call had come in. The command hub itself was on the way, but after the station's shields had fallen they'd had no choice by to precede it into battle. "Your priority is point-defence. Don't let anything get close to the station, Aerialbots!"

Roadbuster fired a parting salvo at the theropod and the server stack that the avian creature had hidden behind, then backed out of the room and transformed, charging up the corridors to Red's location. "Just keep the group together. I've got point."

Blackjack

2014-11-08, 07:18 AM

Kelex Space Station

"Brilliant, Skyblast." Arcee said, smiling. About time something good happened for their side for a change. "Wing Commander Silverbolt, this is Kelex Station Commander Arcee. Really thankful for the help."

Arcee paused, before continuing. "We're abandoning the station and evacuating into the Omega Sentinel. Right now we're hard-pressed in moving civilian ships into the Sentinel as well as transferring all operations there. Your help in driving the Decepticons back while we evacuate would be most appreciated."

Aero Blade

2014-11-08, 03:02 PM

Soundwave Facility

Hound and Raiku would do their best to keep up with Red Alert and Roadbuster, guarding the rear from their pursuers since they were unable to go into their vehicle modes (or would not, in Hound's case).

Warcry

2014-11-26, 05:27 AM

Soundwave Facility

"Got it!" Red Alert peeled back at Roadbuster's instructions, his sirens wailing as he looped around Raiku and Hound. He was hoping to secure the attention of whichever beasts were pestering them.

As the group moved forward, they would see that the veritable forest of servers was thinning out, as if they were approaching the heart of it...
_________________________________

Kelex Space Station

Silverbolt's response to Arcee was curt, since he was in the process of hunting down a Predator who was trying to take potshots at the unshielded station's docking ring.

"Got it," he told her as he lined up a shot. He triggered his weapons circuits three times, sending a triple blast of lighting arcing into the Decepticon he'd been following. The other spaceship rippled with energy, then broke apart into a dozen pieces.

Silverbolt swung around the debris, then replied a bit more verbosely, "We'll do what we can, Arcee, but there's only five of us. I set the autopilot on our station to block their ship, so we won't have to worry about that at least. But their flyers outnumber us five to one. We have the element of surprise but that won't last for more than a few minutes. Move as quickly as you can, because once they regroup we're going to get slaughtered out here."
________________________________

Signal Flare lined his light cannon up on another vector and fired off the carrier signal. "How about that one?"

Offshoot watched the last of his group of civilians make it through the airlock, then stepped through himself. As he did, he saw that a blue-and-red mech was waving people through, pointing them down the hall to where a group of drones were breaking them up into groups and taking them to quarters.

"Doctor Smokescreen, I presume?"

The other Autobot looked up and smiled. "The one and only. And you would be...?"

"They call me Offshoot," the Omnicon said. "I'm one of Arcee's staff. She sent me on ahead to set up a command post...or at least try and coordinate our people so the civilians don't lose their minds." He winced. "No offense, doc."

"None taken," Smokescreen said easily. "Is this the last of them?"

"It's the last of the group I was with, anyway. There may still be stragglers."

"The S.P.R.E.E.M. drones can take care of them, if there's any more," Smokescreen said. "Gather up whoever you need, and I'll take you to the command centre. It's a bit outdated, like everything here, but it should suffice."

Blackjack

2014-12-11, 05:56 AM

Kelex Space Station

Arcee nodded as Silverbolt replied to her. "Good job. Do your best out there and try not to get killed, and we'll try to do the same on our end."

She switched channels and opened an open channel to the other Omnicons. "Status report. How is the evacuation going?"

Aero Blade

2015-01-20, 04:00 PM

Soundwave Facility

With the aid provided by Smokescreen, Hound and Raiku were able to get some space on their pursuers. Raiku took advantage of the breathing room, again searching with his vision to try to make sense of the maze of servers and power lines. Raiku would yell directions as best he could to Roadbuster ahead of them, while leading the others through the winding mess.

Eventually the cords and servers gave way to a small open area, where at its center was a convergence point of sorts. Every sort of cable imaginable, perhaps even every line in the station, came together in a tangled mess so numerous that it was impossible to see what they all attached to. Here was where all of the power in the station cycled through, this one single point, and because of it Raiku couldn't distinguish what might be underneath, not with either of his vision modes.

Warcry

2015-02-08, 04:56 AM

Soundwave Facility

The mass of computers in front of Raiku started to shift, with panels sliding aside and cables retracting as if of their own accord. The Autobot still wouldn't be able to see much of anything, but a vague, angular shape at the core of it all would be slightly visible. Moments later, a V-shaped red light would ignite, flickering slightly as if from disuse. It would look eerily like a set of optics.

Red Alert rounded the corner right behind Raiku and Hound, transforming to robot mode and drawing one of his pistols.

The mass of computer equipment shifted again, and a voice emerged. "You shouldn't have come here," it said, repeating Soundwave's words from the previous room. It was the same voice as the one that they'd heard over the loudspeaker earlier, but this time it was real, not synthesized by the base's computers. And without them it sounded...weak? Strained?

Has he ever spoken to anyone in person before, Red Alert wondered, trying his best not to feel pity for the loneliness that this Decepticon had been subjected to by Prowl and his ilk. But try as he might, he found it hard to judge the other Transformer harshly for what he'd done. If he had been forcibly converted into a piece of equipment, Red Alert conceded, he probably would have joined the Decepticons and killed everyone who got in the way of his revenge too.

But that doesn't mean what he did is okay, or that we can let him walk away from this...
_________________________________

Kelex Space Station

Silverbolt blasted another Decepticon out of the sky, then responded to Arcee. "Will do. I hope. But be quick about it."
________________________________

Signal Flare and Skyblast stepped out of the airlock, unhappy expressions on their faces.

"No luck getting a signal out to the other stations, boss," Skyblast reported to Arcee. "As best as we can tell, all of the other stations within communications range have already been destroyed. We're heading over to the evacuation site now."
_______________________________

Omega Supreme

Offshoot conferred with Smokescreen for a moment, then responded to Arcee. "The last civilians are aboard," he told her. "The ship's drones are seeing them to safe berthing areas now. As soon as you and the rest of the command crew are aboard, we'll be ready to launch. And the sooner the better, if I may say so, ma'am. Because if what Skyblast says is accurate, someone will need to pick up all the evacuees from the nearby stations as well."

"There is one problem though, Commander." Smokescreen was loath to add to her worries, but it had to be said. "The ship is neither designed nor provisioned to carry that many people over the long term. If we can't safely land the civilians on Cybertron -- and by the sounds of things, we probably can't -- then we'll either have to find another safe haven for them or start putting people into stasis en masse. And after what they've already gone through today, I'm not sure the civilians will be willing to let us do that."

Aero Blade

2015-02-10, 05:01 PM

Soundwave Facility

Hound did not spend long looking at the computer core and whatever it was within it, just long enough to decide there wasn't an immediate threat from it, at least not in the form of weapons ore more drones. He immediately turned his riffle and attention back to the surrounding area, waiting for the drones he was sure were still coming after them.

Raiku recognized the voice all too well, from the one drone that had spoken to him out of the many that had tried to kill him. There was thousands of angry questions in his head that he could have asked Soundwave, but when he opened his mouth only a single statement of confusion emerge.

"Why are you doing this?"

Warcry

2015-03-31, 04:32 AM

Soundwave Facility

"Why? Why?" The deck plating rattled at the sheer volume of Soundwave's response, though his voice still showed very little emotion. "After all you've learned and all you've seen, you ask why? After what your leaders did to me, after what they turned me into, you ask why? You know exactly why! I could have had a life, a normal life! Instead they turned me into a piece of equipment! They used me! They grafted me into a space station and forced me to spy on an entire planet! Of course I betrayed them! Who wouldn't?

"The irony is, I don't even care about the Decepticons or their vaunted Megatron. Not really. They were just a means to an end! When your leaders started using me to watch them, I realized that they had a chance, a real chance, to tear this world apart. And I did whatever I could to make that happen. As for you and your friends, Raiku? Wrong place, wrong time. I bear you no malice, but you got in my way and needed to be dealt with."

Aero Blade

2015-04-22, 04:50 PM

Soundwave Facility

"For everything that you could have done, why didn't you expose them? Why didn't you reach out for help?! The media would've had a field day with this! The Temple Knights would've ripped the government to shreds for this kind of thing!"

Whatever scrap of pity or concern Raiku might've had for Soundwave was now gone, replaced just by anger. "They were wrong, but that doesn't make you any more right to do this! With all their resources they may have ruined one life, but you've destroyed thousands! You're worse than they ever would be!"

Heinrad

2015-04-23, 12:02 AM

Soundwave Facility:

Roadbuster, having transformed back to robot mode, stared at the computer core. He listened to what Soundwave said. He listened to Raiku's reply.

Then, he chuckled.

It wasn't a nice sound. It was pitiless, full of scorn. "That's the thing, Raiku. Everything he's just told you is an excuse. If he didn't want to be like this, tapped into everything, he'd be begging us to put him out of his misery. He wouldn't have helped the Decepticons. He's exactly where he wants to be." He raised his linear blaster cannon, aiming it at the central core of the computer. "Any last words, Decepticon?"

Warcry

2015-04-23, 03:50 PM

Soundwave Facility

"You are hopelessly naive," Soundwave told Raiku. "I process every communications signal sent anywhere in the solar system. I know the media. They are useless. Owned by the same elites that own the Senate. They tell you only what their masters want you to know. The Knights are no better. Most of their leaders are politicians now, not holy warriors. A few reporters or knights would have spoken up in outrage, but not enough to make a lasting difference. There would have been a moderate scandal. A few minor functionaries' heads would roll. And six months later their replacements would have been doing the exact same things that put me up here to start with. The only way to make sure this could never happen again was to destroy the system that let it happen. Any deaths that happen along the way are necessary sacrifices to ensure that our race has a better future."

he turned his attention to Roadbuster. "Your arguments make sense. But they are based on an invalid premise. Because -- thanks to the Decepticons -- I am no longer stuck like this. I am free to leave whenever I choose. And now that my mission is, in essence, complete..."

The room's computer components reconfigured themselves again, providing at least some measure of cover against Roadbuster's weapons fire. At the same time, the sound of a million cables and connectors disengaging from Soundwave's body echoed through the room.

"...the time to depart is now."

Through the equipment, the Autobots would be barely able to see his silver and blue form falling free of the computer core. What came next was heard and felt more than seen. An emergency hatch behind the Decepticon rolled open, exposing the room to the vacuum of space. the rush of air grabbed Soundwave and shot him out. The last the Autobots would see of him was his body transforming itself -- slowly, as if his transformation cog had never been used before -- into a vaguely vehicular configuration and igniting a set of built-in thrusters.

Red Alert grabbed a nearby cable to use as a handhold, trying desperately to avoid being sucked out himself. "Hold on, guys!" he shouted, trying to be heard above the din of escaping air. "I'm trying to raise Barrel Roll. If he can bring the shuttle around to meet us, we might be able to pursue him!"

Aero Blade

2015-04-29, 03:37 PM

Soundwave Facility

Hound tried futily to shoot at Soundwave as he made his escape, but he got of little more than a couple of shots before having too grab hold to nearby equipment to keep from flying of with him.

Raiku with one arm down had much more trouble getting a grip, but managed to get his arm around a support beam, hugging it as best he could. His grip wouldn't hold out for long.

Heinrad

2015-04-29, 11:39 PM

Soundwave Facility:

Roadbuster scowled, pulling the trigger on his linear blaster cannon again and again as Soundwave left, cursing as the equipment kept moving to block his shots.

As the air evacuated into space, he subspaced the linear blaster cannon, grabbing a support strut with one hand and reaching out to grab Raiku with the other. "Get them here quick! I want to blast that Decepticon!"

Warcry

2015-05-04, 04:03 AM

Soundwave Facility

Red Alert felt his grip loosening, but soon all the air had evacuated from the chamber, leaving them in a complete vacuum. He spoke to the others, but with no air to conduct the sound of course nothing came out. So he tried again, this time using his radio.

"I got through to the shuttle. They're going to come around and pick us up." The police officer roughly smashed aside some of the blasted, bullet-riddled server equipment, making room for them to reach the exit. "He's got a sensor read on Soundwave, but he's moving pretty fast. I don't know if..."

He stopped speaking once he was close enough to look through the still-open hatch. It was pointing "down", more or less, giving him a good view of Cybertron. Only the thing is, Cybertron didn't look like itself anymore. The great city-states were dark, aside from still-burning fires where the Decepticons had shelled them. And giant, unnatural promontories of purple crystal had torn their way through the world's mantle, reaching up as if to grab the sky. The great energon seas and reservoirs, once a brilliant pink landmark that could be seen from orbit, had gone dark and dry.

His jaw worked again as if he was speaking, but this time the absence of sound was simply because there were no words to describe what he was seeing. But he knew that with his perfect vision and eidetic memory, it was a sight that he would never forget.

Heinrad

2015-05-06, 11:56 PM

Soundwave Facility:

Roadbuster let go of the strut he'd grabbed once the air finished evacuating into space, moving over to Red Alert's location. "As long as they can track that Decepticon, we can hunt...... him..... down?" He stared out the hatch at the view that had stopped Red in mid-sentence, emerald green optic band narrowing.

His home was gone.

His planet was gone.

Everything he'd known was gone.

All that was left was corrupted ruin and death.

In that moment, his hatred crystallized. His anger focused. His vow was made.

"I'M GONNA KILL EVERY DAMNED, STINKING DECEPTICON IN THE GALAXY!!!!!!!!!!"

Aero Blade

2015-05-07, 03:22 PM

Soundwave Facility

Raiku had been grateful for Roadbuster's assistance, not sure if he'd have been able to hold on for long without the other Autobot's assistance. After he let go, Raiku held onto the support for a moment longer, getting his bearings a bit with his injured arm before pushing off the support for the newly made exit. He thought it felt as though his arm was feeling better now, but with the brace on he still couldn't do much with it. Or perhaps it was just the feeling of relief coming over him - wherever he was now, even though Soundwave was still out there, he was now cut off from his communication network. He was effectively powerless now.

And then he reached the opening, and saw the shattered Cybertron laid out before him. It felt as though all the feeling had drained out of him, like when the energon had been draining out of him in the alleyway. His mind didn't want to process what he was looking at. Had Soundwave done this? The Decepticons? The one last thing that had been pushing him on, the hope that there might still be someone he knew on the surface of the planet, or at least some innocent bystanders that Soundwave wouldn't be able to get it, it was all now gone. It didn't matter now that they'd evicted Soundwave, there was nothing left for them...

Hound was the last to the opening, staying back in the structure to scan for any remaining threats that might try to ambush them, but with Soundwave gone it seemed like the whole station was going dead. Hound stared silently out at the sight of Cybertron's purpled surface, confused and worried at the strange sight. He wished he could scan it, see what was going on, but his sensor weren't powerful enough to get readings from up in orbit. The curiosity trained into him as a scout would have to wait, Hound instead focusing on aiding Red Alert by putting out a homing beacon signal to help guide their ride over to them.

Warcry

2015-05-21, 06:27 PM

Soundwave Facility

"I...yeah." Red Alert wanted to argue with Roadbuster's fury, but found that he couldn't. Considering the global catastrophe they were seeing, the only alternative to 'furious' was 'numb'. He was drifting somewhere between the two himself. But eventually his sense of duty pushed both of them aside.

"Revenge will have to wait. Our first priority needs to be helping the survivors. Hound, once you're airborne, will you be able to use the ship's sensors to spot signs of life in the ruins?"

As he spoke, the shuttle drifted into view. Its airlock was open, and the pilot lined it up as well as he could with the small hatch Soundwave had escaped through.

"If anyone's left alive down there," Red said as he stepped the edge of the hatch, "we might be their only chance of getting out alive."
__________________________________________

Kelex Space Station

Although the Aerialbots had provided good cover, the outcome of the battle had never been in doubt. They'd moved their command post to block the Decepticon warship's advance, but that had only ever been a stopgap -- once the ship was able to maneuver around it, it would be free to fire and the orbital port wouldn't survive very long. The nose of the warship was just now swinging into firing position, and its commander didn't take his time. Missiles and fusion cannons began to pour fire into the station, tearing through its shields like they were little more than an air bubble.

But as the station was torn apart, the long, cone-tipped cylinder moored to its side broke free. Orange "claws" unfolded on the vessel's blunt end, and white-hot fire shot out between them as the fusion engines they protected came to life. Accelerating away from the wreck of the ruined, abandoned space station, the Omega Sentinel's own shields sprang to life and shrugged off the warship's fire, before returning a barrage of its own. Then it pushed past, leaving the Decepticons in its wake as it streaked back towards Cybertron with its' cargo of refugees.

Aero Blade

2015-05-24, 02:57 PM

Soundwave Facility

"On it," Hound responded to Red Alert, coming up behind him to prepare for their jump to their ride. Hound's attention briefly went elsewhere, realizing Raiku hadn't moved or said anything.

He took hold of the other mech's arm, gently pulling him a bit closer to the gap. This seemed to rouse the mechanic from his stupor, but only so much. He still seemed numb and despondent, like he was operating on autopilot. Hound was worried, but he stayed focused on the matter at hand, getting their group to safety and looking for others.

Warcry

2015-06-12, 05:42 PM

Soundwave Facility

Red Alert hopped the gap into the shuttle, then stood to the side just inside in case Hound needed help wrangling the shell-shocked Raiku.

If Smokescreen survived this, I need to give him a call...

As he waited he shouted over his shoulder at the pilot, "As soon as we've got the hatch shut, floor it and get us back to Cybertron!"

Abandoning the pursuit of Soundwave stung him, but his training as a police officer was clear -- he couldn't pursue a single suspect, no matter how dangerous, if the pursuit put innocents at risk. That rule was created with dangerous high-speed chases in mind, of course, but the survivors down on the surface were just as innocent as the bystanders on a roadway would be. It was his duty to protect them if he could.